1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to position detection and, more particularly, to improved techniques for acquisition of position information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Position determining devices have become popular for motor vehicle or vessel navigation. Typically, these devices utilize the global availability of Global Positioning Systems (GPS). These device can be dedicated to particular vehicles or vessels. More recently, these position determining devices (often known as GPS receivers) have become portable.
Unfortunately, these devices, if standalone, are battery operated and not typically designed to be able to monitor position over a long duration of time. More particularly, because these devices require frequent radio-frequency communications, computational processing and information display, they consume large amounts of power and thus their battery life is limited. Also, these devices remain relatively expensive and have a relatively large form factor.
As a result, conventional position determining devices are not suitable for use in many applications due to their power consumption. Thus, there is a need for position determining devices that have reduced power consumption. It would be further advantageous if position determining devices were smaller and less expensive.